How to Convert a Scanned PDF to Text
By ScanText Team · 6 min read · 2026-09-03
PDFs come in two forms: text-based PDFs (created from word processors or digital documents) and scanned PDFs (images of paper documents). Text-based PDFs contain selectable, copyable text. Scanned PDFs look like text but are actually just images wrapped in a PDF container.
Why OCR is required for scanned PDFs
Because each page of a scanned PDF is a picture, a regular text extractor finds nothing to copy. OCR renders each page to an image, reads the characters, and produces machine-readable text you can edit, search, and download.
Step-by-step conversion
- Open the PDF to text converter.
- Upload your PDF file (up to 25 MB).
- If the PDF is text-based, the tool reads it directly.
- If the PDF is scanned or image-based, OCR runs on each page.
- Multi-page PDFs are processed in order with clear page markers.
- Copy the result, download as TXT, or download as DOCX.
Open the PDF to text converter
Text PDF vs scanned PDF
A text-based PDF contains live text characters that can be selected and copied without OCR. When you paste text from such a PDF, it is already machine-readable. A scanned PDF—often produced by a flatbed scanner—contains a picture of text on each page. OCR is used to convert those images into recognizable text.
Accuracy factors
- Scan at a readable resolution (300 DPI or higher is ideal).
- Use even lighting without shadows or glare across the page.
- Keep the document flat and straight during scanning.
- Remove dark borders and skew introduced by the scanner.
- Avoid compressed or low-quality scans where text blurs together.
Multi-page documents
The tool processes every page in your PDF in sequence and separates results with clear markers such as "--- Page 1 ---" so multi-page documents stay organized and easy to navigate.
Common issues
- Password-protected PDFs cannot be opened. Remove the password first.
- Encrypted or digitally signed PDFs may not render properly.
- Very large PDFs may take longer to process.
- Handwritten text and decorative fonts produce lower accuracy.
- If a page has no detectable text, OCR handles it automatically.
Frequently asked questions
- Can I extract text from scanned PDFs? Yes, the tool uses OCR to read scanned pages.
- How many pages can I convert? All pages in a single PDF are processed automatically.
- Do you keep my PDF? No. Files are processed in your browser and are never uploaded to a server.
- What output formats are available? You can copy text, download it as a TXT file, or download it as a DOCX file.
Upload your PDF now and let the browser-based OCR engine extract every page.